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A Kicj in the Teeth

I have been in my new shop for about 14 months now. During that time I have spent a lot of money and time making the space livable and workable. I installed a propane heater when the landlord didn't provide heat, altered the electrical to work with my machines, added a wall to keep the cold drafts out during the winter, installed a HVAC system to work with the propane heater, installed new dust collection and generally made the space mine. Today that changed.

A flea market rents a large space adjacent to my shop. They aren't very good neighbors but they didn't bother me staying to themselves during the weekends and were not around much during the week. Now they are moving. I was told it was because their business had fallen off to the point they weren't making any money. The realtor showed the space yesterday and today I got the news a new tenant was going to take the flea market space as well as the 2nd floor. The total space will be in excess of 100,000 sq ft.

This afternoon the realtor paid me a visit to tell me the news. One catch, the new tenant needs a loading dock and the dock in the space is unusable. That leaves the two I have in my space. So, I have 30 days to vacate so the new tenant can have my loading docks and my space. (The new tenant will be paying 13 times more rent that I pay which explains why I am being forced out.)

They do have another building available with 5000 sq ft. and I am supposed to look at it tomorrow. I have been told they will make rental concessions to offset the cost of moving but I really wonder what they will be.

If I do move, it will take most of the month of October to complete the move and get the shop ready to work out of. If I move a notice will be placed on the web site.

Have/did you received any kind of credit from your current landlord for the improvements you made to the property? I'm assuming you received approval and paid for them all out of pocket. If they intend to keep them, I would recommend negotiating some kind of offset for this last month rent. Or, hopefully you can take out all that equipment and leave the premises as is. Since he's going to get 13 times more rent, I think he would be willing to accomodate your demands to get the new tenant in.

+1 to checking the fine print. Nonetheles, even if you're on a month to month, the landlord should only be able to evict you pursuant to the terms and conditions in that agreement, including giving you appropriate notice, which this does not sound like it is.

The rental is month-to-month and I have read the agreement which allows for 30 days notice. I expect I will have to be out by 10/31/11 so I will have the entire month of October to move and set up a new shop.

As for improvements, the only thing that is actually attached to the property is the electrical which was installed with their full knowledge and was inspected by the city inspections dept. The HVAC isn't attached to the building so I will take it and the wall I added which is only wedged into place to stop the drafts from around the other two roll-up doors.

I assume the allowances for having to move me will be enough to offset the expenses I will incur. I have a list of what I expect the expenses to be and I will negotiate the best I can. From what I understand all that is needed from the space I occupy are the two loading docks and nothing else. We'll see just how much they are willing to give up to get these for the new tenant without a fight from me. I'm PISSED!